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Woman Admits She Made Up Story Of Kidnapping, Assault

A Michigan woman who told authorities that she had been kidnapped and sexually assaulted, and later admitted that the story was false, has been sentenced to a year in jail.

Leiha Ann-Sue Artman, 25, of Fruitland Township, Michigan, admitted that her account of being kidnapped, assaulted, and raped had been made up, pleading guilty to making a false report of a felony, according to Michigan Live.

Police have not released a motive for why Artman might have fabricated the allegations.

Artman told police that she had been abducted by four men in March while she was in her driveway. She said that the men put her in the trunk of a car, and then beat and sexually assaulted her. There was also reportedly a ransom demand sent to her boyfriend.

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Artman's boyfriend showed investigators text messages that he received from the alleged kidnappers, demanding a ransom for the return of his girlfriend. The texts reportedly included images of Artman bleeding from a wound on her head and wearing a gag.

Artman said that she was able to call her boyfriend after the attack, and he picked her up at a spot near her home, where she said that the men who kidnapped and assaulted her had dropped her off.

Matt Roberts, the chief prosecuting trial attorney, said that Artman also later attempted to implicate people, naming individuals she said could have been involved in her abduction and assault.

"At a later date, she implicated certain people who may have been involved in it, but still indicated the assault was committed by people not known to her," said Roberts.

Artman faced a longer sentence of up to six years because of a series of earlier convictions, including one in 2014 for resisting a police officer, and another in 2007 for felony breaking and entering. She had also been given two days in jail and one year of probation for financial transaction device fraud. In February, she was found guilty of larceny less than $200, and testified against a co-defendant in exchange for the dismissal of a felony count of breaking and entering, according to the Oceana County Press.

Judge Timothy Hicks sentenced Artman to one year in jail and two years of probation, along with a fine of $1,158.